Dualog : Driving Digital Transformation in the Maritime Industry

Norwegian Dualog is driving digital transformation in the maritime industry, through innovative data-driven solutions and cybersecurity services. Established in 1994, Norwegian Dualog provides a maritime digital platform which ensures that your onboard ICT operates smoothly. We sat down with Kris Ang, General Manager Asia at Dualog to learn more about their services and solutions, as well as new technologies and innovation in the maritime industry.

Kris Ang, General Manager Asia at Dualog

Dualog is a leader in digital solutions for the maritime industry. In other words, Dualog strives to help owners, managers and industry vendors digitalise their operations and create “innovative solutions for the integrated ship” in four main areas – email, smart internet, cybersecurity and data transfer.

“Our suite of services running onboard are efficiently connected to our cloud service, operating in a secured and reliable infrastructure. Customers access the on-board systems through a common user interface across all platforms. Deployment and configuration are generally low effort. Once set up, a vessel becomes an integrated part of the company’s ICT infrastructure, making vessel management remotely from shore more efficient. More than 4,000 ships worldwide rely on us to stay connected,” Kris said.

Today, Dualog has offices in Norway, Denmark, UK, Germany, Greece and Singapore. We asked Kris why they decided to open an office in Asia.

“Our Singapore office was set up in 2001. Singapore, being the busiest port in the world, has a sizeable maritime community to do business with. There is political stability, a highly trained workforce, and an efficient business environment to operate from. Hence, its strategic location with easy access to other markets in Asia also allows us to extend our regional reach more cost-effectively,” Kris expressed.

Key technologies impacting the maritime industry

The maritime industry is under a big transformation at a global level due to new technology and solutions. As a company that is driving digital transformation in the maritime Industry, we asked Kris to share key technologies that impact the industry today.

“The maritime industry is playing catch-up with land-based technologies. Shipping-related companies face challenges surrounding crew welfare and safety, cybersecurity. In addition, an increasing demand for more data analysis and real-time reporting is seen. Manual processes need to be automated and simplified to reduce human errors, and customers are demanding more detailed and accurate documentation and digital tracing of goods. Therefore, one can see land-based technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, blockchain and robotisation entering the maritime space, and more to come,” she said.

Innovation part of Dualog’s DNA

It’s a known fact that the technology world is constantly changing and evolving. How does Dualog manage to keep driving digital transformation in the maritime industry and maintain leader position in this ever-changing landscape?

“Innovation is the backbone of our company DNA, with an equally high focus on collaboration and partnerships. We have a highly-skilled in-house R&D team with a good mix of experience and young enthusiasm who constantly seek innovative solutions. For our own crystal-ball gazing, we consistently listen to customers and partners and seek their feedback,” she said.

She added,” We also invested in a new subsidiary “Innovation Garage”. Its core focus is to test and prototype on new technologies and new business opportunities for the company. This has brought concrete outcomes, particularly our 2017 strategic partnership with NYK on data transfer efficiency. Our latest commercial service, Dualog®️ Drive, is the outcome of this strategic partnership.”

Introducing new data-driven and cybersecurity services

We asked Kris to elaborate on the major developments and highlights for Dualog over the course of the last months.

“Introducing new data-driven and cybersecurity services are our recent highlights. Dualog®️ Drive simplifies and streamlines data collection and distribution between ship and shore IT and OT systems, and supports new automation, IoT sensor data collection and big data analysis. Land-based cloud services are costly and impractical to operate in a maritime environment. Our solutions are specifically tailored for maritime operations. Dualog®️ Protect provides shipping companies with a fast and easy way to implement cybersecurity services on board. It further supports their needs to compliant with upcoming cybersecurity regulations in maritime,” Kris said.

She further added,” Additionally, we signed another long-term Industrial Research and Development project agreement with NYK, supported by Innovation Norway. This agreement is to look into the development of more digitised products with data security and exchange, and a more robust data monitoring system.”

Staying ahead is key

Lastly, we asked Kris Ang how Dualog will position themselves to keep ahead of the competition in the market.

“Our management took an early decision to start positioning ourselves for the digital era by investing heavily in new solutions. We collaborated closely with customers in pilot projects. We sought their inputs for future services that can better enable them in their digitalisation strategy.

Improved internet bandwidth and more applications introduced onboard, introduces a higher level of cyber risk to the IT infrastructure onboard. Therefore, we increased our investment to enhance cyber resilience in our infrastructure and general digital protection. We participate in workgroups on data standardisation to facilitate the sharing of data within maritime. Today, this is still operating in a fragmented way.

I believe that the restriction on movements brought by the COVID-19 pandemic will further accelerate the pace of digitalisation and faster adoption of innovative services. It is no longer a matter of justifying the investment but one of survival. We are confident that our plans are ahead, timely and in tune with the new future to come,” Kris ends.

Dualog provides a maritime digital platform which ensures that internet, email and cloud services work reliably and securely onboard. Dualog enables and optimises all the IT services and tools you need for efficient management of your vessels. Their solutions are installed on more than 4000 ships in worldwide trades.